Hangover is the generic term for the ailments associated with alcohol related sickness. These ailments include weak stomach, vomiting, upset stomach, acidic stomach, nausea, dehydration, elevated body temperature, rapid heart rate, heart palpitations, difficulty concentrating, bloodshot eyes, trouble sleeping, depression, anxiety, irritability, sensitivity to light and noise, blurred vision, dizziness, cold sweats, muscular weakness, fatigue, muscle aches, general pain, labored breathing, erratic motor functions, headache, and inability to digest water into the hydration process. In the past hangovers were treated by using pain medicines, but these medicines caused stomach bleeding and only helped to reduce headaches.
Thereafter, several types of hangover remedies have been produced coming in many different forms. These remedies come in pill form, as an effervescent drink additive, and as a health tea. All of these attempts to remedy a hangover contain various vitamins, minerals, and chemicals to combat the symptoms. These methods give inconsistent results due to the unregulated intake of these vitamins, minerals, and chemicals by the human body. Excess amounts of certain vitamins, minerals, and chemicals also bring about unwanted side effects and imbalances in the body's chemistry.
The method for producing known products can also be long and time consuming, making them difficult to streamline for production and costly. The method taught in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0299284 (hereinafter Jang's health tea) involves slicing vegetables and drying them in the sun. This manual operation takes days to complete. This process of production is also heavily impacted by weather and season. The time wasted is costly for the producer who must consider labor, overhead, and production capacity into their business plan.
Some pills, drink additives, and health teas are a combination of many multiple elements which makes them more costly and difficult to produce. Jang's health tea does not contain all the necessary ingredients to completely remedy a hangover. Instead, Jang's health tea uses a list of 14 different elements in combination to create the product. A reduction in unnecessary elements is a reduction in costs to labor, materials, and manufacturing overhead. Useless elements are wasteful and do not add benefits to the product.
A lack of vitamins and minerals can also be a problem associated with these approaches. Jang's health tea contains minute quantities of vitamins and minerals and is focused more on the soothing aspects of hot water which lacks effectiveness in remedying a hangover. The health tea comforts the hung-over individual without effectively treating the symptoms to eradicate them. It is well known that 4, 8, 12, or 16 ounces of liquid tea prepared from tea bags contain a small amount of nutrients as compared to 4, 8, 12, or 16 ounces of a juice from fruits or vegetables, respectively.
Serious side-effects can also be a problem associated with these approaches. Jang's health tea contains ginkgo leaves which when consumed in excess can be toxic as described in the detailed description section of Jang's invention. Jang's health tea contains Ganoderma lucidum which when consumed in excess can cause adverse effects as explained in the detailed description section of Jang's invention. Jang's health tea contains roots of sprout beans and Hedysarum which can both, when consumed in excess, adversely affect the body of a person who has weak kidney function as described in the detailed description section of Jang's invention. Weak kidney function is common in alcoholic drinkers and can lead to wide spread adverse effects among users of the health tea. Jang's health tea contains Maximowiczia typica which when consumed in excess can cause excessive sweating and adverse effects as described in the detailed description section of Jang's invention. The side-effects of some hangover treatments can be dangerous and counterproductive for users, especially when those users are already feeling the adverse effects of an alcoholic hangover.
Seasonality can also be a problem associated with these approaches. Some fruits and vegetables used in hangover treatments are seasonal and are in short supply during the off season months of the year. This makes it difficult and expensive to meet the needs of demand year round. For example, Jang's health tea has a component of persimmons which is seasonal. Persimmons are in season from approximately October to February every year in the United States. The rest of the year persimmons are in short supply. This effectively reduces the production of Jang's health tea during the time period between March and September. Alcohol consumption is year round and the seasonality of some hangover treatments can lead to shortages of those treatments. Shortages of some hangover treatments can cause problems for drinkers that rely on those hangover treatments for their hangover needs.
The Applicant's hangover treatment is a successful implementation of an ancient idea where others have failed and also a solution to a long-felt, long-existing, and unsolved need since alcohol was invented. It has been perceived to be insolvable. Hangovers are a worldwide pandemic affecting all humans that consume enough alcohol to induce a hangover. It is a problem for modern society that has not been given a solution until the creation of the Applicant's invention.
Humans have tried for a long time to come up with a remedy for hangover symptoms, but none have been successful in properly treating an individual once hangover symptoms are present. All other hangover remedies have only been useful for soothing or masking a hangover but none have been able to eliminate hangover symptoms within a span of 4 hours. For example, Jang's health tea has 14 components and is only used to reduce intoxication of individuals before and during drinking liquor. Jang's health tea is used to reduce the effects of alcohol at the time of consumption of alcohol and prevent alcohol intoxication by consumption of the health tea before drinking the alcohol. Jang's health tea is not meant for the purpose of hangover treatment once hangover symptoms become present, normally occurring the following day after drinking alcohol.